The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1887-05-26

y
railroad corporations, by holders of
public securities, by manufacturers
and ship.owners. 1t does not follow
by any means that Legislators who
yield to the influence of capital are
corruptly moved thereto. The rea-
sons OF great corporation, like micro
scopic animals, seem to float in the
air and hang upon the branches of
the trees. They peryade the atmos-
phere. 1t Is only necessary to tell
the average Legislator that such and
such measure is absolutely necces-
sary to the "business interest" of the
country to make him believe it right.
Not one in ten stops to consider that
that term has reference only to the
profits OF the great corporations and
the stock-operations of Wall street,
which and which alone, are cuisines"
par eGcellence. The means and meth
DDS influencing public opinion and of
bringing about this atmospheric con-
dition are among the mysteries. We
see in part but as through glass
darkly. Next to the press, the bar is
their strong card. In a land Of law and
legal freedom, lawyers have neccessa-
rily great influence, and it is their bus
iness, not their shame, to sell their tai
ents for money. Therefore they can
espouse the cause of a corporation for
consideration without disparage-
ment-even before legislative COM
mittee or a mass meeting. And so in
every community you will find the
bright and promising young attorneys
snatched up and carried away, in the
bloom of their youth and beauty, by
the soulless corporations.
Butt will not trench upon the pro-
prieties of an occasion like this by 60
ing further into the methods by which
it is done. l simply wish to say that
we are passing day by day, more and
more under the influence of wealth,
and converting democracy into a
piutocracy and that | sincerely de-
plore the tendency as one fraught
with ills to our happiness and demo-
cratic institutions Power attracts
power, and wealth commands wealth
and when we arrive at that stage of po-
litical decay when capital shall be
able assuredly to control and shape our
legislation, by which it can stand,
within the circle of law of its own
enaction and plunder the entire land
with safety, then indeed shall ye know
that the end is nigh. Though the
wealth of the United States in the
aggregate has increased marvelously
the inequality OF its distribution has
been increased proportionately. More
! than ever before in our history it has
flowed from the many into the hands
, OF the few. The stream of Legislation
: should not flow into one channel tC
r turn one mans wheel, but like the
r rains Of heaven should fall upon all
! fertilizing the fields Of poor and ricf
: alike, typifying the goodness of thu
: God who sends them. If you knew
: the individual history of the colossa
Y fortunes which have been accumula
t ted in various parts of our country,
y dare say that in nine cases out OF tel
j you would find they had been built VI
d by this kind OF unequal class legisla
e ton. speak that which | do know
e During my legislative career, Congress
has more nearly resembled a court
r wherein all suitors may find their in
o dividual relief, than a tribunal for tn
J. regulation of common interests. C
q the 10000 bills introduced in the ACT
n Congress, more than 10000 were fo
l. private purposes, and of those enacte
n the proportion was about the sam'
y So great is the disposition in this d
Il rection, it may be safely said, that ou
,e of every thousand earnest money
n makers in the country, there are {
r least one hundred who rely solely W
VI on obtaining some advantage OF the
l. neighbors by special legislation.
O. Do not otunderstand me as entertain
Id ing any pietistic or sentimental pre-
n udice against wealth, or as in anyway
ye depreciating the wonderful natur
Ii progress of our country. Far from
re indeed. My apprehension is two-fol
T. First that this vast wealth which
gi flowing in upon lis, is not being di
r. tributed equally-but that the gap b
Sc tween rich and poor is widening, tn
he this tends more and more to the {
,ir vision of our people into classes al
he increases the dependence Of o,
he class upon the other, and their he
tie tility toward each other. This is da
ry gerous if not fatal to democratic libe
IN ty. In the next place my apprehe
ful sion is that in the fierce pursuit
I'm riches we are learning to neglect t
as weightier matters Of the law of fri
OF dom. The beginning of a nations {
he cay is always the beginning of the t
ch sorption of its energies in some o
an unworthy purpose. The vitality